What if Sauron Had Won?

I’m sure most of you have heard the quote “Mediocre writers borrow; great writers steal.” I’ve seen it phrased a dozen different ways, and attributed to everyone from T. S. Eliot to Oscar Wilde to (in altered form) Pablo Picasso. I have no idea what the truth is, and the great thing about this being my column is that I don’t have to care enough to research it. The point is, it’s a common sentiment–and for purposes of this column, I’m stealing it.
See what I did there?
If you’ve been following Suvudu for the past week or so, you’ve seen the various cage matches. Harry Dresden vs. Conan. Dumbledore vs. Vlad Taltos. Rand Al’Thor vs. Locke Lamora. I can only assume that the lack of Han Solo vs. Malcolm Reynolds was a terrible oversight. (And David, since the book’s brand new, I’ll forgive the absence of Corvis Rebaine this time. But if he’s absent in 2011, you will find a horse’s head in your bed. Or perhaps a zebra’s.) But I think it’s safe to say that anyone who was ever into any “geeky” hobby–role-playing games, comic books, fantasy novels, Star Wars or Star Trek, whatever–has engaged in such a discussion. “Hey, what if Doctor Doom fought Darth Vader?” “What if Connor MacLeod fought King Arthur?”
(In my own group of geeks, such discussions always–always–ended with one of us getting tired of the whole thing and breaking out Droopy. Yes, the cartoon dog. Because we all agreed that, no matter who you were talking about, Droopy would eventually say, “You know what? That makes me mad.” And then he would slam the other person around the room until they gave up.)
(My friends and I were, perhaps, a tad weird.)
My point–because yes, I’m getting to one–is this: Such “what if” scenarios, no matter how silly, are a goldmine of ideas for storytellers, whether you’re talking about novelists, RPG writers, or just folks playing their own D&D game at home.

Obviously, you have to make changes and make the idea your own. But that doesn’t mean you can’t create a fascinating story by answering the question.
“What if Doctor Doom fought Darth Vader?” Well, presumably you don’t have the rights to either character. (That’s not a problem if you’re just playing your own game at home, but I’m not sure your players are going to take it seriously presented in those terms.) But let’s take a step back, present it like this:
What if you had a battle between two high-tech, armor-clad, magic-using tyrants, one of whom ruled a planet-side nation, the other of whom commanded a fleet of starships? How would the people trapped between them survive? How could any hero standing up for the people possibly save them? Would they have to ally with one villain over the other? Can they somehow stop both? I’ll tell you what, I’m pretty sure I could get a solid story out of that concept.
How about the Dumbledore vs. Vlad Taltos cage match? A powerful but subtle wizard, with an entire school of students, vs. an assassin who’s only moderately magical, but extremely devious, and the criminal organization he runs. Again, file off the details, and you’re left with what could be the basis of a brilliant fantasy novel or RPG campaign.
And your “what ifs” don’t have to come in the form of X vs. Y. What if Sauron had won, and the hobbits failed to destroy the ring? I point you toward Midnight a setting compatible with the prior edition of D&D, published by Fantasy Flight Games. This was a very successful and very well written line of products, describing a traditional fantasy world a hundred years after “the shadow fell.” Sure, it’s not exactly Sauron and Middle Earth, but the game wears its inspiration on its sleeve, and doing so made the setting more appealing, not less.
What if Godzilla came to the real-world USA? See Cloverfield. What if the Knights of the Round Table fought aliens? Well, that hasn’t been done precisely, but you could start with Outlander. (Yeah, Outlander is actually more Beowulf than King Arthur, but as I said, it’s a start.) Ragnarok in the modern world? Check out Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout. I’m not saying that all of these were necessarily inspired by such “what if” questions–but they certainly could have been, and they answer said questions whether or not they were.
Watchman is another great example. Alan Moore originally wanted to use a specific set of obscure superheroes that had been purchased by DC from Charlton Comics. When they refused, he reworked the story to make use of characters of his own creation–but it’s a story that might well not have existed, had he not been inspired to take pre-existing characters and put them into a “what if” scenario of his own.
To an extent, this is a “duh” moment. Of course writers are influenced by what they’ve read/seen/heard. No surprise there. But I’m talking about something a lot more specific, about wanting to follow-up on, or experiment with, existing characters or concepts without the ability to do so directly. Now, I’m not saying that if you change Darth Vader’s name to Vad Darther, and change his red lightsaber to a yellow plasma sword, that you’re good to go. Merely filing the serial numbers off someone else’s idea or Intellectual Property doesn’t keep it from being their idea or IP. I absolutely despise plagiarists, and if you think I’m encouraging anything close to plagiarism, I suggest you recalibrate your Meaning-o-Meter, because it’s seriously borked.
What I am saying is this: At any time you wonder “What if…?” when it comes to existing characters or concepts, don’t dismiss that idea as the basis for a work–a novel, a story, an adventure, a game–of your own. Instead, take a closer look at it, examine the basic concepts behind why the idea interests you. Yes, there will be some times when it’s purely about the IP, and the idea won’t work in any other context–but more often than not, you’ll find a strong enough kernel at the center of the concept from which you can grow something new, of your own, that still gives you the answer to your “what if.”
And yes, I recommend trying this in RPGs first, before moving on to actual written works–that way, you have people who can tell you immediately if the inspiration for your idea sticks out too obviously, and you can hone your skills at adaptation accordingly–but if you’ve read certain of my prior columns, you already knew I was going to say that.